


take me dancing

by bluenorth



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Light Angst, M/M, winter formal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-30 23:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17232782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluenorth/pseuds/bluenorth
Summary: The winter formal is fast approaching. Connor has never been to a school dance, but there’s an exchange student he wouldn’t mind going with, if only he had the guts to ask him out.





	take me dancing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hockeyyybabyyy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hockeyyybabyyy/gifts).



> Happy Holidays, dear Gina <333
> 
> This is short and sweet. I tried to incorporate a few of your likes and I hope you’ll enjoy this little gift. I hope you’ll be happy about the side pairing, too!!
> 
> Sending you a big hug!! 
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you to my darling R for the beta and encouragement <333

“What the hell are those?” Leon asks as he plops down next to Connor at their usual table in the cafeteria. He gestures to the pile of huge posters that is stacked up in front of Dylan so he has to balance his food tray on his knees while he stuffs his face with a slice of mediocre pizza.

“Posters for the winter formal,” Connor replies because Dylan’s mouth is full. “He wants us to help him hang these after practice.”

This earns him a glare from Dylan, who swallows his barely chewed bite and says, “I was going to ask if you would like to donate some time to help me and Alex out after practice, yes.”

“Don’t you have an entire committee for this kind of stuff?” Connor asks grumpily. If he felt like having anything to do with this, he would have joined Dylan and Alex on the committee.

“Thanks for pointing that out,” Dylan says and rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t have thought to ask them for help without you mentioning it.”

“I’ll help,” Leon says quickly. He either has no patience for their squabbling or genuinely enjoys helping people out. Connor can’t think of a single time that Leon refused to help somebody, so that’s probably it.

“Thanks bro,” Dylan says with a sweet smile and a half-hearted kick under the table for Connor, who kicks right back but misses Dylan’s shin.

“What is a winter formal, anyway?” Leon asks.

“A wonderful winter themed dance. We got a great location this year and the decorations are gonna look awesome,” Dylan says.

Leon’s eyebrows shoot up. “ _Another_ school dance?”

“Yeah. We’ve got homecoming, winter formal and prom,” Connor explains.

“Wow. You guys really like school sanctioned parties,” Leon says. “We don’t really get any of this in Germany.”

“Yeah, it’s annoying,” Connor says with a shrug.

“No, it’s so much fun!” Dylan contradicts him.

Leon laughs at them both and asks “So I have to bring a date to this thing?”

“I mean, you don’t _have_ to, but it’s kind of awkward if you don’t,” Dylan says.

“Which is why I’m not going,” Connor says.

“Seriously? Again?” Dylan asks, pouting at Connor.

“Yeah,” Connor shrugs. “It’s not like I’m gonna find a date anyway. We can’t all be as lucky as you.”

“I’m sure you could find a date, Connor,” Leon says.

“That means he would have to find the balls to ask someone,” Dylan interjects.

“Says the guy who hasn’t had to ask anyone to a school dance, ever,” Connor shoots back.

“I’ve asked Alex!”

“He’s your boyfriend, it doesn't count. You know he’s gonna say yes.”

“Okay, _fine._ Don’t come. But at least help me hang these? Leon’s helping, too!”

Leon grins and nudges Connor gently. “We’ll be faster with you and then we can go get Timmies and hang out at my place after.”

Connor agrees, because the prospect of spending more time with Leon is always appealing, but he feigns reluctance. He doesn’t need anyone to know that if he had the balls to ask someone to the dance, it would be Leon.

 

**❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄**

 

A few days later, Connor is in his stall in the dressing room after practice and, as per usual, he is trying not to look in Leon’s direction because Dylan would definitely notice if Connor was staring at his friend’s half-naked body too much.

Dylan is still in the shower though, so Connor dares to sneak a peek, only to find Alex blocking his view. He’s standing in front of Leon and holding up a necklace with a pendant. Connor can’t quite make out the shape of it.

“Do you think Dylan will like this? I wanted to get him something nice when I ask him to the dance,” Alex says.

Leon gently takes the necklace and inspects it before he smiles and nods. “Yeah, I think this suits him well,” Leon says and hands the gift back to Alex. “He’s gonna love it.”

Alex beams at him and sits down in his stall, which is next to Leon’s, and slips the necklace back into his bag.

“Do you have a date yet?” Alex asks, and Connor wants to stop listening, but he can’t.

“Nope, haven’t asked anybody,” Leon says.

“What? You’re coming though, right?”

“‘Course. I’m waiting for the right moment, you know.”

Connor stares at his skates as if that will make the laces magically untie themselves. Of course he knew theoretically that Leon was probably going to go to the dance with someone, but a part of him hoped that maybe Leon wouldn’t want to go at all, and that maybe they could play Chel together instead.

“Ooh, who are you gonna ask?” Darnell chimes in.

“No way I’m telling you, bro,” Leon laughs.

“What! Why?”

“‘Cause everyone knows you tell Mika everything, and she’s gonna tell her friends, and then everyone will know and it won’t be a surprise anymore,” Dylan says and Connor’s head whips around to find Dylan sitting next to him in his stall. He didn’t even notice Dylan had returned. Dylan raises an eyebrow at him and they haven’t been friends since kindergarten for nothing. One raised eyebrow is enough for Connor to know that Dylan knows.

“That’s-,” Darnell says, but then he stops and shrugs. “That’s actually true.”

The room fills with laughter from all sides and then everyone goes back to changing and getting out. Connor hasn’t even showered yet, so he avoids Dylan’s eyes and strips out of his gear. He stands in the shower until he hears their coach call out that he’s locking up in ten minutes, and still Dylan is waiting for him when he gets back into the dressing room.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Connor says.

“Shocker,” Dylan replies calmly. “I’m here when you’re ready, Davo.” Sometimes, it’s incredibly annoying how well he knows Connor, but it also means he knows exactly when not to push.

“Thanks, Dyl.”

“I’m gonna go, Alex is waiting. Do me a favor and don’t get locked in again, because I’m not coming back to pick the locks and let you out this time.”

“Promise. They did say they’d arrest you if you ever broke into school property again, so.”

“I wouldn’t do well in prison.”

“You’re too pretty,” Connor agrees.

“See you tomorrow, Davo.”

 

**❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄**

 

During the last week before the dance, Connor finds it impossible to navigate the halls in between classes, because everywhere he turns, someone is pulling off an elaborate plan to ask someone to the formal.

Not for the first time, Connor wonders why nobody ever asks him out. It’s not public knowledge that he’s gay, and he’s the captain of the pretty successful hockey team, but apparently that’s not enough of a draw for someone to decorate his locker. Maybe that is because he mostly hangs out with Dylan and Alex or the other guys on the team, or because he’s simply hideously ugly, and maybe it’s for the best. He’d probably end up going to prom with a perfectly nice and beautiful girl only to disappoint her with his nonexistent dance skills.

“Oh boy,” Dylan says when they walk past Leon’s locker on Wednesday after math class. Connor sees what he means immediately: someone has put a crazy amount of blue, glittery heart stickers on the door of Leon’s locker, along with some white snowflake shapes, and a sign in the middle that reads ‘Be my prince for winter formal?’.

It’s so cheesy that Connor feels like throwing up all over it or tear it down maybe, but it’s too late for either of those things. Leon has reached his locker and is inspecting the invitation up close and a group of people has gathered in the hallway to watch what will happen next.

A tall, gorgeous girl breaks through the crowd and Connor quickly recognizes her as one of the cheerleaders. He dimly remembers that she got dumped by someone on the hockey team at the beginning of the school year, and now she apparently has her eyes set on Leon. Connor can’t even blame her for it; they would make a beautiful couple.

She taps on Leon’s shoulder, and Connor realizes he can’t be here for this. His heart is racing, and not in a good way. He thinks he probably won’t cry, but he doesn’t want to wait and see if he’s right.

“Uh, I’m gonna go,” he says to Dylan and Alex and retreats backwards, uncaring of whose toes he might be stepping on, until he’s no longer surrounded by people. Then he turns around and walks away. He doesn’t run, but it’s a near thing.

 

**❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄**

 

Connor seriously considers skipping lunch but talks himself into going and when he gets to the cafeteria a little later than usual, it turns out Leon isn’t even there.

He has barely sat down opposite Dylan and Alex when he asks, “Where’s Leon?”

“No ‘Hello Alex, hello Dylan, how’s your day been’, just straight to the point,” Alex complains.

“So rude,” Dylan says with his mouth full. A few pieces of potato land on the table.

Connor makes a face. “Gross,” he says. “Not replying to a question is also rude.” Dylan flips him off.

Alex rolls his eyes. “Leon is trying to avoid a scene,” he says.

That only confuses Connor more. “Why would he cause a scene by showing up for lunch?”

“Because Lara is very upset that he turned her down.”

Connor’s mouth falls open at that and  he turns his head to look at the table generally populated by the cheerleading squad. Lara is there, but she looks like she’s been crying for a while. A group of girls is gathered around her, but their attention doesn’t seem to be helping. One of them shoots Connor a dark look when she catches him staring, so he quickly looks away.

“He turned her down?”

“Yeah, in front of everyone,” Dylan says.

“She didn’t give him much choice,” Alex adds.

“Wow,” Connor says, stunned. He definitely wasn’t expecting this. “Did he say why?”

Dylan shrugs. “Didn’t he tell Nursey he was waiting for the right time to ask someone to the dance?”

Connor remembers, but Leon would have told them if he’d found a date and the dance is two days away. He says as much.

“Just means there’s still time for you to ask him,” Dylan says and Alex’ eyes go wide with excitement.

“Oooh, that’s a brilliant idea. You’ve only been crushing on him since the day he showed up in all his German exchange student glory,” Alex says. Connor isn’t even surprised that Alex picked up on it right away when it took Dylan forever to notice.

“Oh, sure,” Connor says, “because if he doesn’t want to go with one of the hot cheerleaders, he’ll definitely wanna go with me.”

“That’s like comparing hockey to figure skating,” Alex says. Connor doesn’t even know what that’s supposed to mean.

“I’m kinda happy just being his friend, I don’t need to ruin that,” Connor says.

“Yeah, right,” Dylan says sarcastically.

“He’s not even gay,” Connor argues.

“And how can you be so sure of that? Dylan thought I wasn’t, and hooo boy, was he wrong.”

“I’m not asking him out!”

Dylan and Alex share a look, but they drop the subject after and talk about their plans for dinner before the dance while Connor eats in silence.

He wishes, just a little, that he was brave enough to ask Leon, even if he was going to get shot down.

 

**❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄**

 

“Sweetheart, you’ve got a visitor!”

Connor groans when he hears his mom’s voice from downstairs. He wishes she would stop calling him sweetheart, especially in front of his friends. He hopes it’s just Dylan, but Dylan should be busy decorating the venue.

“Coming!” Connor calls back and drags himself off the bed where he was watching a random episode of Friends.

He finds Leon downstairs, making small talk with his mom, and that can’t be good for Connor. His mom tends to overshare and Leon doesn’t need to know about that time five-year-old Connor cried because he saw a particularly big spider.

“Hi,” Connor says, a little awkwardly. Normally, Leon would text before coming over, so Connor has no idea why he is here.

“Hi,” Leon replies and offers his fist for Connor to bump.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Connor says quickly, before his mom can invite Leon to stay for dinner.

They walk up the stairs in silence, but once they’re inside Connor’s room, Leon asks, “Want to play some Chel?” He has already plopped down on Connor’s bed and is reaching for the controller.

“Dibs on the Leafs,” Connor says and joins him after he’s switched on his PlayStation. Leon laughs and picks the Oilers and they spend a good hour trading wins until Leon finally pulls ahead and Connor decides he’s not gonna catch up anymore.

“Are you sure you didn’t bring your PlayStation with you? You’re not out of practice even a little bit,” Connor says.

“That’s ‘cause I’m always hanging either here or at Stromer’s, and all you guys do is play video games.”

Connor would protest, but it’s not far from the truth.

“So what would you do with your buds in Germany?”

“We’d be outside and play soccer,” Leon says with a shrug.

“In this kind of weather?” Connor gestures to the window. Outside, it has started to snow once again.

“Well, no,” Leon admits. “When there’s snow, we usually get drunk and go sleigh riding. But we rarely get snow.”

“You can have all of Canada’s snow for all I care,” Connor says. He’s usually enchanted by the first snowfall and then it just becomes a nuisance.

“I think Germany would probably be buried under like a hundred meters of snow then,” Leon laughs.

“Ah yes, European countries are tiny,” Connor says. He tends to forget about that.

“No, they’re regularly sized. Canada and America are just too big. You should come visit me  there some time, you’ll see!”

“Yeah, I’ll come visit,” Connor says. He doesn’t like to think about the end of the school year, when Leon will go back to Germany and Connor won’t see him almost every day anymore.

Leon seems to sense that Connor doesn’t want to keep talking about this. He bumps his knee against Connor’s lightly.

“So you’re really not going to the formal?” Leon asks.

Connor wants to talk about the formal even less.

“Nope. I never go to these things. They’re stupid.”

Leon hums quietly, but Connor can’t tell if he’s agreeing or just thinking.

Connor still doesn’t know who Leon is taking to the dance, and a part of him desperately wants to know. The other part is certain that information won’t do him any good.

“So have you found a date yet?” Connor asks. He just can’t help it.

“Not yet,” Leon says.

Connor frowns. “You do know the formal is tomorrow, right?”

Leon shrugs. “Yeah, I know.”

“Why didn’t you just go with Lara?”

“Because I had somebody else in mind. There’s this guy I wanted to ask, but I’m not sure he’d even say yes.”

Connor stares at Leon, because what?

“A guy?”

“Yep. I’m bi. Hope that’s not a problem,” Leon says with a wink.

“It’s not!! But I had no idea,” Connor says. He wishes he could come out to people and be half as smooth about it as Leon.

“Why wouldn’t he say yes?” Someone rejecting Leon makes zero sense in Connors head.

“Oh, he thinks dances are stupid,” Leon says and he’s smiling at Connor, but he looks nervous now.

Connor’s heart starts beating in his chest so hard he can barely think. He can hear his pulse drum loudly in his ears, and he’s trying really hard not do embarrass himself by doing something stupid like kissing Leon. He thinks he understands what Leon is trying to say here, but his brain is so weirdly mushy that he doesn’t trust it.

“Connor?” Leon looks a bit worried, and Connor realizes he hasn’t said anything for a full minute. He takes a deep breath.

“You could ask anyway,” he says, not as bold and brave as he would like to, but the words come out and that’s something.

Leon smiles and he looks so genuinely happy that Connor wants to kiss him again.

“Would you go to the winter formal with me?”

“Yes!” Connor replies with a wide grin.

Leon is grinning right back at him and then he leans in quickly and kisses Connor’s cheek. It’s such a sweet move that it makes Connor’s heart flutter, not nervously like before, but in happy anticipation of more to come.

“I’m going to go now,” Leon says quietly. He gets up from the bed. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 8?”

“You don’t have a car,” Connor says.

“Maybe I’m renting a limo.”

“Limos are for prom!”

“See, I’m a foreigner, how am I supposed to know these things?” Leon asks. He doesn’t seem too upset about it, though. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Con.”

“Yeah,” Connor says with a smile. He watches Leon slip out of his room and grabs his phone. He texts Dylan.

_GOIN TO FROMAL WITH LEON!!!!!!!_

_I NEED A SUIT!!!!_

_HELP!!!!_

 

**❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄**

 

“Well, you don’t look hideous in a suit,” Dylan says when he sees Connor, who’s about to return the backhanded compliment when Leon slides an arm around his shoulder.

“Hey, Stromer? Shut up,” Leon says good-naturedly.

Connor grins at Dylan, who acts like he’s been mortally wounded. “Oh, that’s how it is? Davo here agrees to go on _one_ date with you and suddenly you’re on his side?”

Leon nods with a bright grin. With the arm that’s not tucking Connor close to his side, he gestures around the ballroom they’re in. All the lights are shining in various hues of blue, there’s a lot of glittering chandeliers and snowflake decorations everywhere, an archway where a professional photographer is taking couple pictures.

“You’ve done a great job with everything here,” Leon says, and it’s true. Connor doesn’t have much to compare it to, but the place looks magical.

“Yeah, who knew you had so much organizational talent,” Connor says. He knows that Dylan is, in fact, a mess, and that most of the organizing probably fell on Alex’ shoulders.

“I hide it well,” Dylan says and sticks his tongue out at Connor. “Well, go, have fun! The blue punch is spiked but you didn’t hear it from me!”

To his great surprise, Connor enjoys the dance, and not just because he’s there with Leon, who never really leaves his side. They take a few cringe worthy pictures with Alex and Dylan, who at some point just start to make out in front of the poor photographer. They try some of the spiked punch, which probably tasted awful even before the alcohol was added to it, but it makes Connor so giddy that he allows Leon to pull him onto the dance floor. They dance until they are breathless and Connor’s cheeks are burning, so when Leon says, “Let’s get some fresh air,” Connor is more than happy to follow him into the cold night.

“You’re having fun,” Leon says with a smile.

“You sound surprised,” Connor says. He leans against the wall of the building and enjoys the cool, hard surface that’s grounding him while the fresh air makes him a little lightheaded.

“I wasn’t sure you’d enjoy it,” Leon admits.

Connor takes his hand and tangles their fingers together.

“I always have fun when I’m with you,” Connor says. Maybe it’s too much, too vulnerable, but he can’t bring himself to worry about it even a little. He’s happy and Leon looks happy, too.

“You do, huh?” Leon asks, stepping into Connor’s space.

“Don’t let it get to your head,” Connor replies and pulls Leon even closer.

When Leon leans down to kiss him, his lips warm and soft against Connor’s, it’s the best feeling in the entire world. It’s solid and certain and Connor’s lips part easily, welcomes it when Leon deepens the kiss and his weight holds Connor in place.

At the back of Connor’s mind, a stray thought appears that’s not dedicated to Leon’s mouth, or the way his skin feels against Connor’s fingertips, or the wonderful way he smells.

_I can’t wait to take him to prom._

 

**❄♥❅♥❄♥❅♥❄**

 

 


End file.
